Chris Thrall advises people on how to quit drugs

WHEN handsome young Marine Chris Thrall left the Forces to move to Hong Kong, he expected to make his fortune.

But within months he was homeless, alone and fighting an enemy more dangerous than anything he faced serving his country — crystal meth.

Chris almost lost his sanity and his life after becoming addicted to crystal meth, also known as ice. Now he supports others how to quit drugs and has written a bestselling book, Eating Smoke, about his experience.

Click HERE to read about how Chris’s life was before he quit drugs and showed others how to quit drugs.

He says: “I loved my time in the Marines and the challenges that came with each day. But looking back, it was nothing compared to what I faced at the height of my addiction to crystal meth.”

Sadly, Chris is one of a growing number of the drug’s victims.

Meth is twice as addictive as heroin and more damaging to health than crack cocaine.

After ravaging communities across Asia, Australia and the US, it is now on Britain’s streets, sold for as little as £10 a gram — which is enough to keep a user on a permanent high for nine days.

Chris, from Plymouth, never dabbled in drugs during his time in the Royal Marine Commandos. He joined up at 18 and served seven years, including stints in Northern Ireland, before quitting to launch a marketing firm in Asia.

He said: “I loved being a Marine. I was doing something for my country and earning better money than friends who’d gone to university. But I got involved in an exciting business venture and went to Hong Kong to make my millions.”

Unfortunately, the venture failed and his company went bust.

Chris, now 42, says: “It was hard. I had racked up a lot of debt and suddenly I was jobless.”

He found a job at a Hong Kong firm marketing computer chips after answering an ad.

A few months after joining, Chris walked in on a colleague in the toilets smoking meth, which can also be snorted or injected.

He recalls: “He offered me some and I thought, ‘Why not? How harmful can it be if he’s smoking it in the middle of the day?’ I took two puffs.

“Back at my computer, I suddenly felt this rush. It was like nothing I’d ever felt. I knew I was addicted straight away. The next day I wanted more.”

At first crystal meth — scientific name methamphetamine — made Chris feel fantastic and there was no shortage of dealers.

He says: “I could pick it up on the way home from work. It was as easy as buying milk.”

But things soon got out of control.

Chris said: “I was getting nowhere in the office so I got a job as a nightclub doorman in Wan Chai — the red light district. I thought if I worked at night, I wouldn’t be able to take drugs.

“But that soon went out the window. My addiction was life consuming. I was on it constantly. It overloaded my brain and I began to lose the plot. You’re incredibly tired so you hallucinate. On top of that, psychosis starts to develop. I found myself wondering how to quit drugs.”